As international passenger numbers increase and the complexity and cost of securing Australia’s border grows, there is a greater need for border management to use more sophisticated analysis of big data to help government identify passengers who may pose a risk and intervene well before they enter or leave the country.

The IBM advanced passenger analysis solution developed and deployed for ACBPS collects and stores Passenger Name Record (PNR) data which is then risk assessed in combination with other relevant information. PNR data is shared between airline carriers and ACBPS officials for the purpose of identifying travellers who may be a risk ahead of or during travel. This enables ACBPS or other law enforcement agencies to quickly assess passengers and any risk that they may pose. The solution eliminates the manual and time consuming process of pulling data from multiple host systems on an “as required” basis. Now ACBPS officials receive real-time data for all departures and arrivals, allowing them to more quickly and accurately zero in on potentially high risk passengers.

The solution adheres to the recently established global PNRGOV standard, which facilitates sharing of consistent traveller data between airlines, and government agencies worldwide. It allows for the integration of PNR data supplied from various airlines and service providers into a single platform. Australia is the second country in the world, following Canada, to adopt the new standard developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with input from airlines, governments and service providers including IBM over the past three years. The solution is compliant with data privacy and access requirements of the Customs Act, the Australian Privacy Act and the provisions of the European Union-Australia PNR Agreement.

“Nearly 30 million airline passengers passed through Australia’s borders over the past 12 months which is an increase of approximately 5% on the year before,” said Terry Wall, National Manager for Target Assessment and Selection for the ACBPS. “With IBM’s advanced passenger analysis solution integrated with our existing risk assessment tools, we can look at a range of data, using the Government's criteria, and identify potentially high-risk passengers and ensure our resources are deployed with greater precision when it comes to securing Australia’s borders.”

According to Steve Bingham, Managing Partner, Global Business Services, IBM Australia and New Zealand, this smart approach to identifying the risk travellers pose before they fly will enhance how Australia manages its borders.

“Big data has the power to revolutionize customs and border security efforts, enabling more intelligent, globally interconnected data gathering and analysis,” said Mr Bingham. “IBM’s strong relationship with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the result of true collaboration over many years. We are pleased to have applied IBM’s proven global capabilities in customs and border protection to develop a solution that leads the way internationally when it comes to border security.”